Method and apparatus for splicing wire rope



July l2, 1955 c. F. scHooNovER 2,712,724

METHOD AND APPARATUS PoR sPLIcING WIRE ROPE Filed Aug. 27, 1952 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 t: d Z l J /0 @l 7a Ill .ur-1r 'I m E KHIM) lhlyllil-a-.iiir-.H` i@ @i 7? il 60 a FIE 1 [men/601'.' (41a 5mm/vole,

July 12, 1955 c. F. scHooNovER METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR SPLICING WIRE ROPE 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Aug. 27, 1952 uw ww Q M7 f W WA# lm/ 5 .www FM @n a w M@ ai uw E A Sv nv w July 12, 1955 c. F. scHooNovER 2,712,724

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR SPLICING WIRE ROPE Filed Aug. 27, 1952 FIE- .5 Sheets-'Sheet 3 FIL-5-5 ///0 //4 @Maf/@ nited States Fatent ME'EHG AND APPARATUS FOR SPLICING WIRE ROPE Carl F. Schoonover, Gary, Ind., assignor to United States Steel Corporation, a corporation of New Jersey This invention relates to a method of and apparatus for splicing wire rope and more particularly to forming an eye at the end of a relatively large wire rope. As 1S well known a wire rope consists of a plurality of strands twisted together with each strand being formed of a plurality of wires twisted together. In the past it has been most common to make the eye on the end of a Wire rope by doubling the end of the rope back on itself and clamping the rope at the points where they come together at the end of the eye. The strands of the loose end are then unravelled and bent back to the point where the rope is clamped in the vise. The hemp core is then cut and a marlinspike is driven through the cable in order to tuck one of the unravelled strands therethrough. This operation is repeated for three strands after which the rope is released from the vise, rotated 180 and reclamped in the vise. Since each strand is tucked about six times the clamping and releasing must be repeated l2 times to form the eye. This operation is very diicult when splicing large ropes and a great deal of time is consumed in making a single splice. Accidents fre- Cl quently occur to workmen who become fatigued quickly. A great amount of skill is necessary so that considerable time is required to train a workman to make the splice efficiently.

lt has been suggested that special equipment which f requires less physical eort on the part of the workman be used. For example, the patent to Iacoel No. 2,323,774 shows equipment suitable for splicing wire rope. However, this equipment s somewhat difficult to operate and is not very efcient in forming splices in large size wire rope.

it is therefore an object of my invention to provide a method of and apparatus suitable for splicing wire rope rapidly and less expensively than is possible with the methods and apparatus previously used.

This and other objects will be more apparent after referring to the following specification and attached drawings, in which:

Figure l is an elevation of the apparatus of my invention;

Figure 2 is a sectional view taken on the line Il-II of Figure 3;

Figure 3 is an enlarged view, partly in section, of the clamp of my apparatus;

Figure 4 is an enlarged top apparatus;

Figure 5 is an elevation, partly in section, of the vise of Figure 4; Y

Figure 6 is a sectional view taken on the line VI-VI of Figure 5; and

Figure 7 is a sectional View taken on the line VII-V11 of Figure 5.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, the reference numeral 2 indicates a clamp which is adapted to be supported from an i-beam 4. For this purpose a channel 6 is fastened to the l-beam 4 and is provided with a hole 8 at its lower end. A longitudinal channel plan view of the vise of my Patented July i2, 1955 10 is provided with a matching hole 12 and a bolt 14 passes through the openings 8 and 12 to pivotally support the channel 10. A plate 16 is welded to the other end of the channel 1i? and is provided with an opening 1S for receiving an eye bolt 2t) which is supported by a U-bolt 22 fastened to the beam 4. A bushing 24 is fastened to the lower side of the plate 16 in alignment with the hole 1S. A bushing 26 surrounds the lower end of bolt 2 0 and is held in place thereon by means' of a wing nut 28. A spring surrounds the bolt 20 with one end bearing against the plate 16 and the other end against the bushing 26. Gripping jaws 32 and 34 are mounted on the channel 10. An internally threaded member 36 is welded to the jaw 32 on the side thereof opposite the jaw 34 and is slidably received in a bracket 38 which is fastened to the channel l by means of bolts 40. An angle 42 is welded to the channel 10 adjacent the bracket 38 and an adjusting screw 44 passing through an opening 46 in the angle 42 is threaded into the member 36. The screw 44 is provided with a thrust collar 48 Which bears against the angle 42. A handle Si? is attached to that portion of the screw which passes through the opening 46 by means of a pin 52. A slidable member 54 is fastened to the jaw 34 and slides inside a guide 56 which is fastened to the channel 16 by means of U-bolts 58. A shackle 66 is welded to the member 54 at the end thereof opposite the jaw 34. A pair of links 62 are pivotally connected to the shackle 6d by means of a bolt 64. The free ends of links 62 are pivotally connected to a gripping lever 66 by means of a bolt 63. The lever 66 is pivotally mounted on a fulcrum pin 7i) mounted in a bracket 72 which is bolted to the channel 10 by means of bolts 74. The center line of the fulcrum pin '70 is slightly below the center line of the sliding member 54 to provide a toggle action which will lock the jaw 34 in gripping position on a wire rope R when the lever 66 is pulled toward the left, as shown in Figures 1 and 3. If the grip is not stniicient the lever 66 is swung to the right and the jaw 32 is moved toward the right by turning the screw 44. The lever 66 is then swung to the left to again test the gripping action. This operation can be continued until the rope is securely gripped. A vise 76 is mounted below the clamp 2, preferably on oor 78. The vise '76 includes a foundation plate 80 which is fastened to the floor by means of bolts 82 and which has a vertically extending tube or socket 84 fastened thereto. A plate 86 is fastened to the top member S4 and is provided with a plurality of holes 88. A base plate 96 has a downwardly extending tube 92 fastened thereto which is received in the socket 84. A keeper ring 94 is secured to the plate 90 by means of bolts 96 and is held in spaced relationship therefrom by means The base plate is provided with an opening 160 for receiving a locking pin 102 which passes downwardly therethrough, through one of the holes 88 and through a hole 164 in the ring 94. A face plate 166 extends vertically upwardly from the plate 99 and is reinforced by ribs 108 which extend between and are fastened to the plates 9h and 106. A pair of jaws 110 are slidably mounted on the plate 1.06, one on each side of the vertical center line thereof. Each jaw 110 is provided with a tongue 112 which extends into a horizontal slot 114 in the plate 106. The jaws 110 are held in piace by means of plate 116 which are fastened to the respective tongues 112 by means of cap screws 118. A nut 120 is welded to the face of plate 106 adjacent each jaw 111i and is provided with a threaded opening for receiving a screw 122. The end of the screw 122 is received in an opening 124 in the jaw 110 and held in place by means of a locking screw 126. vThe plate 166 is provided with a central vertical slot V128 for receiving tongue of a center jaw 132. The jaw 132 Vby means of the locking pin 102.

is heldin position by means of a plate 134 which is fastened to the tongue 130 by means of cap screws 136. A nut 138 is welded to the plate 106 in alignment with the j aw 132 and is threaded to receive an adjusting screw 140. Screw 140 Vis received in an opening 142 in the jaw 132 and is held in position therein by means of a locking screw 144. The faces of jaws 110 are arcuate and taper downwardly and outwardly from the vertical center line ofplate 106. The faces of jaw 132-are concave and taper downwardly and outwardly from a point adjacent -the top thereof. A socket 146 is welded to the rear side of the plate 106 for receiving a turning bar 148.

In making an Veye at the end of the wire rope R the rope for splicing purposes. Bindings 150 are applied to the lrope as shown in Figure 1 to keep it from unwindjing.Y A mark 152 is then made on the rope a distance from the lower binding 150 equal to the length of the iirst step is to mark off a distance D at the end of the rope required for the eye to be formed in the wire rope and the rope R is placed in the vise 76 with the lower binding 150 and mark 152 just above the jaws 110. The jaws 110 and 132 are moved to grip the rope firmly therebetween after which the rope is gripped in the jaws 32 and 34 to prevent turning of the rope above that point. The binding 150 at the end of the rope is removed and the strands of the length D of the rope are unravelled and the hemp core cut away close to the vise. The end of each strand is bound with hemp cord ot prevent the individual strands from unravelling. The vise 76 is then rotated counterclockwise to part of the rope between the vise 76 and the overhead clamp 2 so that the marlinspike can be quickly and easily forced between and spread the strands for the tucking operation; after which the vise is locked in position The resiliently mounted clamp 2 compensates for any change in length of the rope due to its unwinding. The length D ofy the rope is then spliced into the length of the rope between the vise 76 and clamp 2 in the usual manner such as described on pages 27 to 31 of the American Steel & Wire Companys catalog entitled, Valuable Facts About the Use and Care of Wire Rope (copyright 1942).

While one embodiment of my invention has been shown and described it'will be apparent that other adaptations and modifications may be made without departing from the scope of the following claims.

' I claim:

l. A wire rope splicer comprising a rotatably mounted plate, a pair of aligned spaced apart jaws slidably mounted von said plate, a wedge shaped central jaw mounted on Vsaid plate between said pair of jaws, the inner face o each of said pair of jaws being arcuate and tapering outwardly from the narrow end of the central jaw, the faces of said central jaw being concave, each of said pair of 'jaws being adapted to hold a length of wire rope against said third jaw, rotation. y

2. A wire rope splicercomprising a rotatably mounted vertical plate, a pair of spaced apart jaws mounted on said plate for slidable movement in a horizontal plane, the inner face of each of said pair of jaws being arcuate and tapering downwardly and outwardly from the other and means for holding said plate against Vof said pair of jaws, a third jaw mounted on said plate between saidY pair of jaws, the faces of said third jaw beingV concaveand tapering downwardly and outwardly from a point adjacent the top thereof, each of said pair of jaws being adapted to hold a length of wire rope against said third jaw, and means for holding said plate against rotation.

3. A wire rope splicer comprising a rotatably mounted plate, a pair of aligned spaced apart jaws'slidably mounted on said plate, a wedge shaped central jaw mounted on said plate between said pair of jaws, the inner face of each of said pair of jaws being arcuate and tapering outvwardly from the narrow end of the central jaw, the faces loosen the winding of that if of said central jaw being concave, each of said pair of jaws being adapted to hold a length of wire rope against said third jaw, means for holding said plate against rotation, and a resiliently mounted clamp spaced from said plate for gripping one of said lengths of wire rope.

4. A wire rope splicer according to claim 3 in which said clamp includes a supporting member, a pair of jaws, a slidable member connected to one of said jaws, a lever pivotally mounted on said supporting member, a link extending between and'pivotally connected to said slidable member and said lever, the axis of the pivot support of said vlever being out of alignment with the axes of the pivots of said link.

5. A wire rope splicer according to claim 3 in which said clamp rincludes asupporting member pivotally mounted at one end, a resilient support for the other end of said supporting member, a pair of jaws, a slidable member connected to one of said jaws, a lever pivotally mounted on said supporting member, a link extending between and pivotally connected to said slidable member and said lever, the axis of thepivot support of said lever being out of alignment with the axes of the pivots of said link, a slidable member connected to the other of said jaws, and means for adjusting the position of said second Yjaw with respect to the first jaw of said pair of jaws.

6. A wire rope splicer comprising a rotatably mounted vertical plate, a pair of spaced apart jaws mounted on said plater for slidable movement in a horizontal plane, the inner face of each of said pair of jaws being arcuate and tapering downwardly and outwardly from the other of, said pair of jaws, a third jaw slidably mounted on said plate between said pair of jaws for movement in a vertical plane, each of said pair of jaws being adapted to l `hold a length of wire rope against said third jaw, means for holding said plate against rotation, and a resiliently mounted clamp mounted above said plate in spaced apart relationship for gripping one of said lengths of wireY rope. Y7.*A wire rope splicer according to claim 6 in which Vsaid clamp includes a supporting member, a pair of jaws, a Vhorizontally mounted slidable member connected to one of said jaws, a lever pivotally mounted on said sup-y porting member with its free end extending downwardly, a link extending between and pivotally connected to said Aslidable member and said lever, the axis of the pivot support of said lever being below the axes of the pivots of said link.

8. A wire rope splicer according to claimV 6 in which said clamp includes a supporting member pivotally mounted at one end for vertical movement, a resilient support for the other end of said supporting member, a pair of jaws, a horizontally mounted slidable member connected to one of said jaws, a lever pivotally mounted on said supporting member with its free end extending downwardly, a link extending between and pivotally connected to said slidable member and said lever, the

axis of the pivot support of said lever being below the axes ofthe pivots of said link, a slidable member connected to the other of said jaws, and means for adjusting the position of said Vsecond jaw with respect to the first jaw of said pair of jaws.

. 9..A wire .rope splicer comprising a supporting member pivotally mounted at one end, a resilient support for t the other end of said supporting member, a pair of jaws,

y., a slidable member connected to one of said jaws, a lever in which comprises bending one end of the wire rope upon itself, gripping the legs of the bent Wire rope between a central jaw and a pair of jaws movable perpendicularly to the central jaw will suicient rope below the jaws to form the eye and snicient rope in the free leg to form a splice, gripping the other leg of the rope in a clamp spaced from the said jaws, rotating the jaws with the rope gripped therein about a vertical axis to loosen the strands of the rope of the said other leg, unwinding the strands of the rope of the free leg, and then splicing said last named strands into the rope of the said other leg.

11. A wire rope splicer comprising a supporting member, a pair of jaws, a slidable member connected to one of said jaws, a lever pivotally ing member, a link extending between and pivotally connected to said slidable member and said lever, the axis of the pivot support of said lever being out or" alignment with the axes of the pivots of said link, a slidable member connected to the other of said jaws, and means for adjusting the position of said other jaw with respect to said one jaw of said pair of jaws.

12. A Wire rope splicer comprising a supporting member pivotally mounted at one end, a resilient support for the other end of said supporting member, a pair of jaws, a slidable member connected to one of said jaws, a lever mounted on said support-f pivotally mounted on said supporting member, and a link extending between and pivotally connected to said slidable member and sai lever, the axis of the pivot support of said lever being out of alignment with the axes of the pivots of said link.

13. Apparatus for forming an eye in the end of a wire rope comprising a clamp for gripping the rope at the throat of the eye, rotatable means for supporting said clamp, a second clamp spaced from said rotatable means for gripping said wire rope a substantial distance from said eye, and resilient means for supporting one of said clamps for movement toward and away from the other of said clamps.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

